According to FBI reports, Missourians lost $55 million to cryptocurrency scams in 2023

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KFVS) – An annual FBI report on cryptocurrency fraud found that 2023 was the busiest year yet for the growing technology.

In 2023, just over 69,000 complaints reported a total loss of $5.6 billion to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. The same report showed that Missouri alone lost $55,022,745 in 838 scams.

The most common victims of the scams were people over 60 years old. The next youngest demographic, 50-59 years old, followed in second place.

Cryptocurrency fraud can take many different forms. Investment fraud is the most common, followed by personal data breaches, tech support fraud, and trust fraud.

J. Scott Christianson, director of the University of Missouri’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, said consumers should immediately be suspicious of payment requests received via phone calls if they are overly urgent or time-sensitive, and especially if they involve digital currencies.

“No reputable company, government agency or bank will require this,” Christianson said.

“Always hire a reputable provider. Something like a credit card or something like a bank, because that’s what we call Know Your Customer or KYC compliant, and they make sure that not only do they know who you are, but also who the other people are are .”

The FBI offers the following advice to consumers to help them avoid falling victim to a cryptocurrency scam.

• Criminals will try to convey a sense of urgency and isolation.
• If you receive an unsolicited call from an unknown caller claiming to work for a well-known company or government agency, hang up, independently research the company or agency’s publicly published phone number, and call them to verify the authenticity of the caller to confirm the original call.
• No legitimate law enforcement or government official will call to request payment through a cryptocurrency kiosk.
• Never provide personal information to third parties without verifying that the person is who they say they are.
• Check the validity of any investment opportunities offered by strangers or long-lost contacts on social media sites. If you have never met a person in real life, even on the phone or video chatting, you should be very careful when accepting investment advice or opportunities.
• Be on the lookout for domain or website names that impersonate legitimate financial institutions, especially cryptocurrency exchanges.
• Fraudulent companies often use website addresses that mimic real financial institutions, but are often slightly different, to convince people that the fraudulent website is legitimate.
• Do not download suspicious-looking apps or use them as an investment tool unless you can verify their legitimacy.
• This is likely to be the case when an investment opportunity sounds too good to be true. Be wary of get-rich-quick schemes.
• Investments involve risks. Individuals should invest based on their financial goals and financial resources and, when in doubt, seek the advice of a licensed financial advisor.

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